Budding knife



Nov. 15, 192 7. 1,6493 I8 R. W. MILLER BUDDING KNIFE Filed July 11, 1925 6 .3 INVENTOR R.'WMZZer BY ATTORNEY i atented lhlov. 15, 1927.

RAYMOND vV. 1VIILLER, GE LINDEN, CALIFORNIA.

BUDDING KNIFE.

Application filed July 11, 1925.

This invention relates'to devices for use by horticulturists, and particularly to knives used in tree budding operations.

In performingsuch operations a piece of the bark having a bud thereon is cut from the budding woodof one tree and applied to a space from which the bark is removed on the other tree. To insure good-results and prevent the budded tree from bleeding and probably dying it is absolutely essential'that the horizontal edges of the bud stri-p shallaline perfectly with the similar edges in the space on the other tree in which said strip is fitted.

Knives having a pair of suitably spaced and presumably parallel blades are now provided for making the necessary horizontal incisions in the bark of both the budding wood and the stalk to which the bud is to be applied.

After the incisions have been made however the bark must be pried up in order to remove the section of bark, and at present one of the parallel blades is used for this purpose. The result is that the blades which are necessarily quite thin. are soon thrown out of parallel alinement and remain sprung, after which of course it is impossible to insure that the incisions on the budding wood and the stalk will be the same distance apart. As a consequence a number of trees are lost after budding operations, due to the use of these knives and the discrepancy in the spacing of the incisions.

The principal object of my invention therefore is to eliminate the above defects by providing a knife having not only the two necessary parallel blades, but an additional blade for prying up the bark after the incisions are made.

The parts are so arranged that this third blade does not interfere in any way with the operation of the other blades and vice versa.

A further object is to provide for the quick and easy removal of any blade so that the blade may be readily replaced or resharpened when necessary.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawlngs similar characters of ref- Serial No. 42,904.

erenc'e indicate corresponding parts in the several views Fig. 1 is a perspective elevation of my knife complete. I

F ig.'2 is a. similar VlBW of the handle and body member alone. p v 1 y I Fig. a 3 is a cross section of the knife through the body and blades. I

\ eferring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the dr awings,the numeral 1 denotes a handle of suitable fo'rzn, preferably 'of metal having on one end a body 2 preferably in the form of'a rectangular block which is .provided with a centrally disposed slot 3 extending from end to end thereof parallel to the side faces of said block. This slot receiyes the tang 4 of a prying element or blade 5 which projects beyond the outer edge of said block in the form of a sharp edged portion which tapers to a pointat its-outerend. Placed against the outer side faces of the body and preferably extending the full length thereof are thin straight edged slashing blades 6 (such as the ordinary safety razor blades), the opposite faces of the body being parallel to each other. These blades do not project above the body but depend therebelow for a certain distance, their cutting edges being along said lower edges.

The blades 6 are held in position against the body by means of independent plates 7 abutted. against the outer faces of the same and having flanges 8 overhanging the top of the body and adapted to rest thereon. The plates, blades 6, body 2 and tang 4 are all held rigidly clamped together by means of stud .bolts 9 projecting through all said parts, the bolts having nuts 1-0 on both ends thereof bearing against the plates 7.

By means of this device it will be seen that the blades 6 need only be used for mak ing parallel incisions, and hence they are not liable to become sprung or warped out of parallel alinement. The position of the prying element 5 is such that it does not interfere with the operations of the blade 6, nor do the blades interfere with the manipulation of the prying element, since the latter is disposed clear of the plane of the blades 6.

If at any time either of the blades 6 should need replacing for any reason, it is only necessary to remove the'corresponding plate 7, which enables the adjacent blade to be at once removed. Similarly the central prying element 5 may be easily removed by withdrawing the bolts 10. lhe plates 7 not only serve to firmly clamp the blades 6 against the body but brace the blades, which are quite thin, and prevent them from springing.

From the foregoing description it readily seen that I have produced device as substantially fulfills the of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A budding knife including a handle, spaced and parallel slashing blades carried by the handle, and an independent prying blade carried by the handle adjacent the slashing blades whereby both the slashing will be such a objects and prying of the bud from the tree may be carried out in one continuous operation with the same tool.

2. A budding knife including a handle, a

on the handle, and a third blade mounted on the handle in a plane between and adjacent the first two blades and projecting beyond the end of the handle and first named blades to form a pry.

3. A budding knife including a handle, a pair of spaced and parallel blades mounted on the handle, a third blade mounted in a plane between the first two blades and pr0- jecting beyond the end of "the handle to form a pry, and means, common to all, removably securing the three blades in fixed position on the handle.

4. A budding knife including a handle, a pair of spaced and parallel blades mounted on the handle, a third blade mounted in a plane between the first two blades and projecting beyond the end of the handle to form a pry, means, common to all, removably securing the three blades in fixed position on the handle, such means including a block formed on the handle with parallel sides against which the slashing blades rest, the block having a central slot into which the tang of the pry blade projects, bolts projecting through all the blades and block, and nuts on the bolts to draw the parts tightly together.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

RAYMOND W. MILLER. 

